Antivibration device for automobiles.



No. 833,912. PATBNTED4OOT.23,19O6. v v G; w. BELL.

ANTIVIBRA-TION DEVICE FOR AUTOMOBILES.

APPLIOATION FILED NOV 27, 1905.

2 SHEBTS-SHEET 1.

. WITNESSES. I 11v VEJVTOR.

.dttomeys.

P'ATENTBDOIGT. 23, 1906.

- G. W. BELL. i 'ANTIVIBRATION DEVICE FOR AUTOMOBILES.

APPLICATION I'ILED NOV. 27. 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR. 1

WITNESSE -j 4 To an witomjit mtiy Loztc er-rnv county ,of Lancaster,

WlLL A or L ERP OMENGL fi wims/ e fs syiee FoFi Auioaesi'rssj.

j N eeaeis. i

and irel'a'n iverp.ool,' in the u ngland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in and residini 4 at Connected with Antivibration' Devices for followingisa specification I I to My invention has particular reference .to

Automobiles and Like Vehicles, of which'the an im 7 roved running-gear for rnotorevehicles; and t e object of the invention is to enlarge uponthennvention described in my, vprior Letters'Patent, No. 598,280 of February 1, 1898',- andinake the sameapplicable to motorvehicles of all descriptions. In the aforesaid- Letters Patent a wheel with a pneumatic hub is shown-and described, the wheel having two. hubs onewithin the other I the vouter hub form ng azrigid part of the wheel. and revolw mgpo'n the inner hub, which is stationary w th the axle, but vertlcally yieldingly supported thereon by an 'iiil rQllShlOIl formed between'aipiston held in fixed vertical connecv, the inner hub; .In this" arrangement, whichtion'with the axle and acylinder formed in forms a substitute for pneumaticallytiregl wheel, the 'jar and concussions renewed by the'wheel 1n traveling upon rough roads are,

transmitted to "the inner hubandare taken up;

by the ahgcushion'without transmitting them to the axle. In ap lying this so-called pneu-f maticsh'ub whee to motor-vehicles' t be comes necessairy for obvious reasons to pro vide meansnot only for" varying the. pressure of a r of the air-cushion in accordance with the-varying load thevehicleisintended to ean'yfbut also for maintaining such pressure byforemg 111 additional air'to make up for the loss of'air byea'liage which it willbe found H impossible toprevent.

0 this end my invention embodies. a corn structlon of pneumatic-hub wheel (particulax-1y adaptegi for motor-Wehicles and -involv-' certain new features in the construction oftheparts and in the'eonstruction, arrangement, and o peration ofcert'ain other devices ior controlling the air-cushion, all as more annexedgdraw g i w i 'I F1 ureis a diagram planview of'a motorfully hereinafter described and' sho'wn the vehi'c e runningegear .e'mbod'"nghiy-iiiveii- "tion. 2. is

a -ve rtica crosssection M1 on through one of the rear wheels; and Fi 3 is elevation of Fig. 2., partly in seetioiu I '1 i p cification f letterfiaitent-i ,Appumionfi eanovambarzl1905. Serialllo.2.891

Be it known that... I- GEORGE wines BELL a sulgeet of the Kin?l of Great Britain tion hub-brake.

mated o' tf 23.51966;

i .In' the drawings, A represents that part of a the rear axle upon which the' I longitudinal frame members P are supported, and-B is one of the stubaxles which ca the rear wheels. The art is rovided wit Wan offsetA, in

whic the stu -ax1e Bis rigidly secured in an suitable manner; but preferably detach O is the inner hub upon which the wheel rea volves. This I is formed upon its oppos te ends with vertical guide-slots B which en ga%e with flattened portio'nsB of the stub a'x e, and thereby guidetheinn'er hub and prevent itfromrevolvingpf 1 i g ,t D D. are air-chambers forined-inthe inner hub,'one above and one belowthe stub-axle:

E and Ev aretwo pistons'en'gaging into' these airvchambers; respectively, and cooperating therewith to forIntwoIair-eushions, the one below the stub-axle forming the .aire'ushion or. air-spring which yieldinfily supports theweight upon' the wheel and t .eratmg as'a dash-pot or check-spring to 1 check the vertical play of'the inner hub upon the. stubexie. cIt communicates withthe" outer air under the control of the piston ll through a vent-ghole 0 The two, pistons;

' carry a. suitable packing to makethem fit airtight andbot'h are hollow and form air-chambers which communicate with each other and e one above ops with tlfil'ower air-chamber D in such man-.1

t-nei' as to.-iform;an enlargement ofsaid lower air-chamber D. i

, F isfthe' outer hub; whibh aipa'rt 9 .lperinit the-wheel to i e ballbearin s Y, travelin' in ball-races V-., being prefer-ab y III-i wheel, itself, and it is Suitably shaped totinclose the inner hub and revolve thereon, suitab ter'ose between itand the inner huhu l is the spr 'cket-wheeh-whioh transmits the sprocket-wheoiismounted.

H 1s avfric'tion brake-fling cooperating with the inner face of the flange vG to form a fric I s a braeketsup the actuatih parts of thobrake mec ianisnn, It is seen-re to the iimereiid ofthe inner-hub by sci'ews m and provided with a, slot 13* tofletflw stub axle pass tl-irougln n J is a shaft joui'imled iii an ari i of the K is a cam on the inner end of the shaft,

extending between the severed ends of the friction-ringI i L is a spring operating to draw the severed ends of the friction-ring together.

M is a pin secured in an upwardly-extending arm of the bracket I. j

M is a headed bolt suspended from the pin M and supporting the friction-ring within the flange G. j

N is a spring interposed between the head of the-boltM and the pin M.

necting through branches Z with the airchJamber'D. 1 1

is a compressed-air-su p y pi e coup ed to the inner end of the stdb-shaft and communicating, through the passage 0 and branches Z, with the air-chamber D, and Z is a check-valve controlling the passageand preventing the escape of air from the airechamber D. In the case of the front wheels the air-supply pipes, if connected to the inner end of the spindles, will be provided with a suitable joint (or flexible connection) to permit the steering. The parts being constructed as shown and described, it will be readily understood that by filling the chamber D with compressed air of suitable pressure the Wheel will support the stub-axle upon an airspring formed. by the air in the chamber D and connecting-passages, and thus-prevent the direct transmission of the jars to which the wheel is subjected on'rough and uneven roads to the frame and body of the vehicle, thus formin a substitute for the pneumatically-tired w the same and use a solid rubber tire or any other form of solid tire. The action of the air-chamber D in forming a so-called dashpot or check-spring will also be readily understood I Compared with my former invention, as described in tie above-mentioned Letters Patent, it will be seen that my present construction makes the invention applicable to 1notor-vehicles in that it embodies means for applying power to the wheel for driving and for raking and, What is of equal importance, for varying the power of the air-spring to suit different loads and for supplyin additionalair to compensate for loss by eakage, since even with the best construction there will be a gradual leakage of air from the air-chamber D. I accomplish both objects automatically by the following described means: To a shaft driven by the engine h is connected a small air-pump p of any suitable form. This is connected, by means of a suitable conduit f through a check-valve m, to an air-tank r, located on the rear axle, and also to an adjustable safety-valve e and pressure-gage 6, located. on the dashboard, also conduits f and f which conduct the air to the front andrear wheels, respectively.

' O is an air-passage in the stub-axle, con-" ieels and enabling me to discard 1 In operation when the engine is started u the pump 1) compresses the air into the tanii r to a. pressure (which is set and. regulated by the valve 6 by the driver and shown on the pressure-gage) su'lliciently great to support the car and load under the condition of the suspension required. Due to the presence of the check-valve Z, or in lieu thereof a reduced orifice, if any one of the-wheels meets with an obstruction the resulting compression of air in the air-chamber D will not be transmitted through the conduitsto the air tank or pipe.

To provide for the adjustment of the resiliency of the air in the chamber D of the device Without raising the pressure therein substantially higher than is necessary to suspend and support the car and load. and at the same time confine the. displacement to the limits afforded by the construction and design of the respective parts of the device, I reduce the volume of air or column in the body of piston and cylinder by introducing into the chamber D a greater quantity of lubricant than is essential for lubrication of the piston. This liquid by displacing a portion of the volume of air therein will cause the pressure or resistance to rise more rapidly for the same displacement of the piston in the cylinder than it was possible before the introduction of. the lubricant.

The system herein described alfordsfacili- ,ties for thedriver to adjust from the seat,

while the car is in motion, the desired degree of resiliency of the supporting air-springs by simply raising the pressure or lowering the same in the air tank and system by regulating the valve 0, as circumstances demand.

It will be obvious that the above invention or improvement is equally well applied to any other form of antivil'n'ath'm deviccvia that'form in wlnch a bag or mmtamer is used between the piston and plunger or their eduivalents without materially departing from this invention. It will also be understood that with a sullieiently capricious pipe system intermediate between the com )rcssor and the wheels the air-storage tank may be dispensed with.

As above indicated, I may substitute for the check-valve l in the air-supply pipes a small orifice sufiiciently restricted to prevent the amount of air in the air-chambers D to be appreciably increasedor decreased by. the sudden compression or expansion of the airspring in the travel of the vehicle over uneven and rough roads and yet permit the gradual reduction of the amount of airin the air-chamber by the reduction of the air-pressure in the tank, as might be desirable or necessary after relieving the vehicle of a heavy load. I preferably, however, use a check-valve and make a small hole through it. The same object may be obtained with a check-valve,'although not automatically, by means of air-relief valves or cocks from the air-chambers, which might be operated -by hand. It is also'ob-.

. vious that either by means of a varying amount of lubricant introduced in the airchambers D through the air-supply pipes or. otherwisethe resilienc of the different pneu- -matic springs can be 'fi'erentiated' as may be necessary, or the 'air-ehambersmay be varied in their capacity by meansof partitions in the :o- I

pistonsjor otherwise 'Havingthus fully what'I claim 'is -1. The combination with a motor-vehicle I running-gear embodyingin. its. construction pneumatichub wheels which interpose between the axles' and the hub of each wheel a variable ai-r chamber forming a pneumatic spring-support for the frame, of an air-tank,

an air-compressor operated by the motor of the vehicle, connections-between the tank and the air-chambers for supplying the same with compressed airfand means for varyingthe pressure of the air in the tank. v v 2. The combinat'on with the motor-vehicle 1 running gear'embodying in its construction pneumatic-hub wheels which interpose between the axle and the' hub of leach wheela variable airecham-ber forming a pneumatic spring-support'for' the frame, of an air-tank,

' runhing-gear embodying in its construction- 4 an air-compressor for supplying saidjtank with-compressed air, means for operating the same by power derived from the motor of the vehicle, connections between the tank and the air-chambers for supplying the same with a r under pressure, eheck valves in said con-. nections', and means for varying the pressure of air in the tank. 3; The combination witha motor-vehicle pneumatic-hub wheels which int'erpose between the axles and the hub of each wheel a variable air-chamber forming a pneumatic spring-supp ort for the fram e andiload thereon,

. means operated by the motor for compressing air, means for supplying the compressed air into theair-chambers forming the pneumatic springs and means'for increasing-orreducingthe air-pressurein saidchambers under control of-the operator.

described my invention,

in'presence In motor-vehicles embodying in their' construction pneumatic-hub Wheels of the character described,- the herein described method of varying or modifying the resilienc formed by the pneumatic" devices .of suc wheels by-the use of lubricants introduced into the airchambers of the devices.-

5. The combination. in a motor-vehicle running-gear, fa pneumatic-hub wheel com prising a stub-a lo, a wheel formed with an ,outer hub formi" g a part of the wheel, and an inner stationary hub upon which the outer hub is j'ournaled, said inner hub formed with air-chambers located-in the vertical plane of the stub-aXle,.pisto ns' carried by the stubaxle and cooperatingwith said air-chambers "to form a pneumatic supp orting-spring below" the stubaxle and a check-spring above the I same, lan air-passage leading through the, stub=axle into. the lower air-chamber, a compressed-air-supply'pipe connectingwith said passage, means for supplying compressed air I o and 'means for controlling the pressure of the air in said chambers. I

6. .The combination ini a motor-vehicle,

running-gear, a pneumatic-hub wheel comprising a stub axle oflset from the main part of the axle, a supporting-Wheel formed with anouter hub constituting a rigid part of the Wheel, an inner stationary hub mounted upon I and vertically guided b said stubvshaft, pistons carried by said stu -shal"t in the vertical plane thereof, cylinders formed on, the inner 'hu'b cooperating with said pistons to form a supporting air-spring below and an air-check spring above said stub-shaft,-- an air-passage in the stub-shaft leadinginto the ,lower'air chamber, 'a connection between said passage and a compressedair-.s'upply' tank, and a check-valve controlling the escape of air from said pass-age and having a restricted orifice 

